The "pro bono" work of an early 19th-century piano technician helped in the musical development of Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest composer of Italian opera. When Verdi was eight his father managed to obtain an old, battered, square fortepiano for his gifted son. Verdi's father asked Stefano Cavaletti, whose family manufactured and repaired organs, to fix the old piano and make it playable. Perhaps sensing the child's potential Cavaletti left the following record of his visit on a card attached to the instrument: "I, Stefano Cavaletti, repaired and covered these hammers with leather and I fitted the pedals, which I gave as a gift, just as I also gave my labor for fixing the hammers, seeing the good disposition that the youth Giuseppe Verdi has toward learning to play this instrument, which is enough to satisfy me completely. Year of Our Lord, 1821." -- ---------------------------------- Edward E. Swenson Pianos and Fortepianos http://www.clarityconnect.com/webpages4/piano/ 11 Congress St. P.O. Box 634 Trumansburg, NY 14886-0634 USA 607-387-6650 FAX: 607-387-3905
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC